Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski talks about the impact of a USA TODAY Sports story on his relationship with NASCAR officials. / Jerry Lai, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

CONCORD, N.C. â?? Brad Keselowski said he won't alter his outspoken style after meeting last week with NASCAR brass who were unhappy about his comments in a USA TODAY Sports story.

"It's an important question," the defending Sprint Cup Series champion said when asked after a Charlotte Motor Speedway news conference if he would be more gun-shy after having his wrist slapped. "I think that I will still have the same approach to doing everything I can to push the sport forward as I see fit. It's just a matter of balancing it with the interest of everything else."

In a wide-ranging interview about the state of NASCAR, Keselowski told USA TODAY Sports in a story that last week that the sanctioning body, teams, sponsors and tracks needed to form better partnerships and stop battling each other to snag sponsorships.

Keselowski also said NASCAR had work to do in adapting to changes in TV, noting that "when Bill France Jr. was in charge of NASCAR, he had control of all these pieces and wasn't at the mercy of the TV world. He had control of the tracks and NASCAR, which is now divided in two with Lesa (France Kennedy, president of International Speedway Corp. that controls 12 tracks) and (NASCAR Chairman) Brian (France). France Jr. had relationships with the sponsors, drivers and teams. Now we don't have that."

Lesa France Kennedy and France met with Keselowski separately Friday for at least 30 minutes apiece. NASCAR Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes has said the meetings weren't spurred necessarily by the story appearing in Friday's USA TODAY Sports but to establish a better dialogue with its reigning champion.

"No one wants Brad to be more candid and outspoken than Brian France," Jewkes told USA TODAY Sports. "But to be outspoken, you have to be informed, particularly when you're a champion and not a 20th-place driver. That was the message Brian wanted to send was to understand the issues a little deeper."

In his first extensive comments about the meeting, Keselowski admitted some of his comments were "definitely on the edge. Yeah. I'm not going to run from that. But I'm also not going to run away from the validity of some of the things I said, either."

The Penske Racing driver has embraced the ambassadorial role of being a champion and has said he wants to help unify the sport's factions for the better good. On Tuesday, he reiterated that stance, even if it meant voicing opinions that might be unpopular.

"If I have to be the bad guy in this garage or in this sport, so that the series and American motor sports can move forward, that doesn't bother me one bit," Keselowski said. "I would rather be maybe a less popular champion of a series that's very, very successful, than a popular champion of a series that's not."